


local pining nerds trip over bed-sharing trope and somehow land in actual communication

by quantumducky



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pre-Canon, Sharing a Bed, they are both so awkward god bless. they figure it out tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:15:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29452164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quantumducky/pseuds/quantumducky
Summary: Pre-archives Jon and Tim have to get a hotel room last minute and there's only one bed, oh no, whatever will they do... (spoiler alert the answer is "accidentally talk about their feelings and then Kiss")
Relationships: Jonathan Sims/Tim Stoker
Comments: 13
Kudos: 83
Collections: TMA Valentine's Exchange 2021





	local pining nerds trip over bed-sharing trope and somehow land in actual communication

**Author's Note:**

> This is a gift for Hound/corvidtowers on tumblr for the Valentine's exchange. I hope you like it!

Jon gazed out the window of a first-floor hotel room with arms crossed over his chest and a slight scowl on his face. Snow was falling in fluffy clumps, swirling in the wind and rapidly forming a thick blanket over the picturesque small town outside. A small town in which he and Tim had  _ meant _ to spend no more than half a day gathering information on a supposed haunting. And, more to the point, a small town in which they were now stranded until the following morning, thanks to all this damn snow coming out of nowhere and stopping the trains. They’d been lucky enough to find a decent place to stay for the night on short notice, and to have finished their research before the storm began, but it wasn’t exactly the way Jon would have preferred to spend his night.

He broke off his disapproving stare, which hadn’t been doing much to change the weather anyway, and turned around at the noisy opening of the door. It creaked shut again just as loudly behind Tim, who entered with a handful of the sample-size toiletries he’d gone downstairs in search of. He held them up with a victorious grin, nearly dropping them all over the floor in the process, and Jon smiled back. It could be worse; at least he was stuck here with someone he actually  _ liked. _

“The good news is, they had everything we needed at the front desk.” He dumped the things in his arms onto the bed and started sorting them into two piles. 

Jon raised an eyebrow. “You say that like there’s also  _ bad _ news.”

“The bad news,” Tim sighed, “is that no matter how nicely I asked, they still didn’t have any rooms open with more than the one bed. Think I should go back and try a different strategy? I mean, maybe if I’m charming enough, I can talk the guy at the desk into making someone else switch with us.” He looked at Jon, who was making no attempt to hide his skepticism, and recoiled dramatically. “Don’t give me that look, I’ll have no  _ choice _ but to do it if you insult my pride! And- okay, say for the sake of argument that the thing I suggested just now was completely ridiculous.”

“I’m with you so far, but…”

“Shush. Anyway, I’m sure I could at least go and ask to get one of those folding cots in here. Yeah, that’s a way better plan, that’s what I’ll do.” He’d started to pace the small room while talking increasingly fast, gesturing with his hands, and Jon had to grab his wrist as he passed in order to have a chance to say anything before he was gone.

“Tim.  _ Tim. _ You’re still being ridiculous.” He realized a second late that this wasn’t a very helpful thing to say, particularly by itself, and hurried to elaborate. “Sorry- that is, I’m not sure why any of this is necessary?” Tim was still looking at him blankly, and his expression was a bit… odd. Jon hoped he hadn’t accidentally offended him. “It’s not as if the room we’re in now isn’t meant for two people.”

Tim stared at him a little longer, even after that, before shaking himself out of it. “So it is, my dear colleague, well spotted.” It had the cadence of a joke, but Jon had no idea what was meant to be funny. That happened sometimes, though, with Tim; he didn’t worry about it. “Guess I just assumed you wouldn’t want to, y’know. Share the bed. I know you like your personal space.”

“Oh. No, it’s fine, I don’t mind.” If Jon were here with some random other coworker, no doubt he’d hate everything about it, but this was  _ Tim. _ They were friends, after all, and Jon didn’t have any problem sharing space with him. It occurred to him, though, that maybe that sentiment wasn’t entirely mutual. “Although if  _ you _ mind- I know I may not be the  _ best _ company, and I’d understand if you wanted a break-”

“I’m fine with it if you are,” Tim cut in before Jon could get too self-deprecating. He fell onto the bed next to him and bounced a little on impact, stretching out and propping his head on his hand. “You’re a delight to be around, and don’t you dare argue. As long as it doesn’t make you uncomfortable, there’s no one else I would rather share this mediocre hotel room experience with.”

Jon made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a scoff and rolled his eyes fondly, tamping down on the warm feeling in his chest before it could grow out of control. “You may feel differently in the morning. I’ve been told I steal blankets.”

Tim raised his eyebrows, smiling. “Oh really? Well, you can’t steal them if I steal them first. Maybe it’ll come out even. You know, equal force on both sides.” He mimed a sort of pushing-apart motion. “Or else, uh…” He sat up abruptly, scooped up his pile of toiletries and headed into the bathroom without finishing the thought. “Anyway, dibs on getting ready for bed first, I wanna get a quick shower in before I’m too tired.”

The door closed behind him before Jon could reply. He was acting a little strange, wasn’t he? Not strange by Jon’s standards, but more… nervous, almost? Than Tim normally was. Maybe he still felt awkward about the sleeping arrangement. It was amazing Jon wasn’t more awkward and nervous himself, really, considering his hopeless crush on the man.

It  _ was _ hopeless, though, was the thing- and that was why he didn’t see any reason to work himself up about this. Nervousness was for people who thought anything might  _ come _ of the situation they were in, and Jon knew there was no chance of that. He’d long since accepted that Tim couldn’t possibly feel anything romantic for  _ him- _ all else aside, surely he would have mentioned it by now- which meant acting normally now was no more difficult than acting normally any other time they were together. No point even thinking about it, really, and to put it out of his mind was an easy, practiced thing. He moved on from the whole subject and started putting his side of the bed in order, mentally planning out what they’d need to do in the morning to be back in London on time. He was glad to have a friend here, someone he trusted not to make things any more stressful than they had to be, and there was no need for it to be more complicated than that.

* * *

Jon had to admit the sleeping arrangement did leave something to be desired. Pillows, mostly. Not that they were  _ missing, _ or anything- they were the flat hotel kind, but they would have been perfectly serviceable for normal purposes. It was just that Jon’s ideal purposes were more along the lines of… piling them on top of himself in an effort to get comfortable enough to sleep. He hadn’t anticipated how difficult it would be to relax without the weighted blanket he was used to sleeping under at home. He almost considered going back to the front desk, but he didn’t want to become someone’s “demanding customer” story, and he didn’t want to explain himself to a stranger, and he didn’t think it would really be worth the trouble, besides, to build a mountain of pillows that would only fall on the floor and wake him up again as soon as he moved in his sleep.

Still, at least that would mean he’d have  _ been _ asleep. He pressed the one extra pillow he did have over his face and contemplated simply wedging himself under the mattress. Fortunately, before he could actually talk himself into anything so ill-advised, Tim interrupted his thoughts.

“Doin’ okay there, buddy?”

He sighed. “Fine. Would the light keep you awake if I were to get my laptop out for a while?”

Tim shifted, turning over to face him. It sounded like he was frowning. “Jon, I already told you, we don’t need to worry about the report until we get back tomorrow. Nobody expects you to stay up all night working on it.”

“It’s not that. I just. Don’t sleep well away from home. I’ve got this sort of, uh, specific… setup? And if I’m going to be awake anyway, I thought I might as well…”

“I can’t sleep, either,” he admitted. “And not just because there’s somebody sighing right next to my ear every ten seconds.”

“I am  _ not.” _ Jon was tired enough he couldn’t be completely sure of that, but he wasn’t going to say so.

“My thing is, I’ve got this giant plush bear- you know the ones that are the size of a person, that they sell for Valentine’s gifts? Except I bought it for myself, because I’m a grown man with a job and I don’t have to wait for other people to  _ give _ me implausibly large stuffed animals. Anyway. Got used to sleeping with that, and now I can’t get comfortable unless I’m wrapped around it like a koala. Feel free to laugh at that;  _ I _ even think it’s pretty funny.”

Jon didn’t. He was quiet for a while, and eventually said, “Pressure. That’s mine. I have a weighted blanket, at home. Trying to sleep without it, it feels…” He waved vaguely at the air. “Exposed. Not- not secure enough.” He wasn’t quite willing to say outright that he needed it to feel safe, although he knew the idea was coming across regardless.

“Ooh, wait, here’s a great idea: I can just hold  _ you, _ problem solved.” Tim snapped finger-guns at him, waiting for a reaction.

There was a beat of silence. After a second, Tim winced and opened his mouth to retract the joke, as it clearly hadn’t landed. Before he could say anything., Jon finished processing the idea and replied, “Okay.”

“Sorry, that was- wait. Really?”

Jon shrugged with one shoulder. “I’m tired. I want to sleep. Maybe it will work.” And he cut his train of thought off there, rather firmly, before it could get ideas about taking him anywhere troubling.

“Oh- uh- okay. Yeah. Sure. Might, uh, might as well. Yeah.” He cleared his throat and shifted onto his side, holding an arm out. “Scoot over, then.” He’d barely finished speaking before Jon slotted himself into the offered space and got comfortable.

Jon was  _ very _ comfortable. Maybe too comfortable. He was trying not to think about it. He was sort of afraid that, if he examined how comfortable this was too closely, his own bed at home would no longer be good enough by comparison, and then he’d never sleep well at night again. His head rested against Tim’s chest, and his arms around him were warm and just tight enough, and after the long day, Jon was half-asleep almost instantly. “Thanks,” he sighed, and closed his eyes.

It took him a minute to notice that Tim wasn’t having as much luck. He kept changing position and moving his arms, which Jon didn’t appreciate. When he finally convinced his eyes to open, Tim was trying to straighten his shirt without sitting up. It wasn’t working very well.

“Tim?” Jon squinted up at him. “What’re you doing?”

He startled a little. Maybe he’d thought Jon was asleep already. “Hi. Sorry to wake you, just- y’know, this shirt seemed a lot less itchy before I started trying to sleep in it? I’m trying to decide, do you think it would be better or worse if I turned it inside out?”

“Worse.” He flapped a hand at him and said very reasonably, “Just take it off.” 

“What.”

Jon huffed, mostly at having to go to the effort of saying more words. “Just. Take the shirt off. And stop moving around.”

Tim made an odd noise at that. Maybe he was surprised he hadn’t thought of it sooner. In any case, he took the suggestion and started undoing his buttons. Jon closed his eyes and waited for him to finish. As soon as he lay down again, Jon returned to his original position- it was even warmer with less fabric between them, which was nice. Now that they were both lying still, he fell asleep within a few minutes.

* * *

Tim woke up with Jon plastered against his bare chest, dead to the world, and their legs tangled together under the blankets. As soon as he recalled what was going on and why, he considered simply evaporating on the spot.

Or, more realistically, extracting himself from the bed, getting dressed as quickly as possible, and hoping Jon had been tired enough last night that he wouldn’t remember it once he woke up. Tim  _ really _ didn’t want to have… the conversation they needed to have now, whatever that might be. It wasn’t as if they’d hooked up or anything like that. But they did need to have  _ some _ kind of conversation, he was pretty sure, and he liked to think he was at least a mature adult in this  _ one _ area. So he put his shirt back on, nudged Jon awake, and once they’d both been up long enough to feel decently functional, he sat on the edge of the bed and said, “We should probably talk.”

Jon seemed to brace himself. “About?”

“About, uh…” He gestured between the two of them, partly to cover for the fact that he still wasn’t sure how to describe it.

“If I- crossed a line, before, I’m sorry. I was tired and not thinking clearly, although I know that doesn’t excuse-”

“No, no, it’s not that, you didn’t do anything wrong. You were great. 10/10 sleepy snuggles.” He made a face at his own awkwardness and changed direction. “I just wanna know where your comfort zone actually is, I guess. Because I would’ve assumed cuddling me in bed with my shirt off was, like, way outside it, but apparently not? Or, you did say you weren’t thinking, so- I’m trying to be careful here, I don’t want to cross a line with  _ you, _ or, uh, take advantage.”

“Take advantage?” Jon gave him a perplexed look. “How on earth would you be doing that?”

Tim swore inside his head. “Well, uh. Christ, this is  _ so _ not the talk I was planning to have. I… may have… certain feelings… that I don’t expect you to return or, like, do anything about, and was kind of planning to never mention so it wouldn’t be weird, but it seems like that ship’s sailed? Uh, no pun intended. Just- if that changes what you’re okay with, I totally get it.”

Jon had been staring at him blankly for a few seconds now, and Tim made himself stop his nervous rambling to let the man actually respond to it. Unfortunately, when he did, all he said was, “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“…Sorry?”

“Why would  _ you _ have feelings for  _ me? _ It doesn’t make sense,” he repeated impatiently. “I don’t understand what you’re doing here.”

“First of all, bullshit,” Tim said automatically, and then he processed the implications of the words emphasized in that sentence. “Second- sorry, hold on. Are you saying it  _ would _ make sense for  _ you _ to have feelings for me?”

Jon blinked. “Well, of course. You’re charming, considerate, you have a good sense of humor and you don’t get annoyed when I miss the joke, um. You’re very, uh… nice-looking…” He gestured vaguely and turned a bit red. “And you’re good at the, uh… you’re comfortable. To be with. You know.”

“Jon?”

“…Yes?”

“Now I don’t want to assume, but this doesn’t sound very much like a hypothetical anymore.”

Jon looked at him wide-eyed and startled, as if he’d had no idea what he sounded like. They both stared at each other for a few seconds before he broke out of it. “God, we’re a mess,” he sighed, dropping his head into his hands with a sound that was almost a laugh. “It’s not. Wasn’t. If you couldn’t tell.”

“I was hoping,” Tim admitted, “but, uh. This has been hopelessly awkward enough without making any more assumptions. Can I get a redo? You caught me unprepared, I swear I’m normally much better at communicating than this.”

He looked up and raised his eyebrows. “I could offer some evidence to the contrary, but go ahead.”

Tim cleared his throat. “Hey, Jon. Considering that I’ve been holding you like a teddy bear all night, I think you should be made aware that I have a crush on you.” Jon made a sound of disapproval. “What? That was perfectly clear!”

“I know, I know, just… a  _ crush? _ We’re not teenagers, Tim.”

He waved the comment away. “Your turn.”

“Alright, alright.” He straightened up. “Tim, in light of that information, I would like to inform you that I… have a  _ crush, _ if you insist… on you as well.” They managed straight-faced eye contact for half a second, and then Tim folded over laughing, and it took several minutes before either of them could regain his composure.

Tim fell back on the bed, out of breath, and looked up at Jon. The grin on his face felt like it might be permanently affixed. Jon smiled back, if a little more self-consciously, and sat beside him after a moment of hesitation. “So. What now?”

“Oh.” Jon frowned to himself. “I… I don’t know. I wasn’t expecting to get this far. I suppose- are we dating, then? Do you want to be?”

He laughed out loud- not mocking, just delighted. “Wonderful idea. I’d love to.” He started to sit up and paused. “Can I kiss you?”

_ “Oh! _ Um. Not- not on the mouth, if you don’t mind? It’s too… wet.” He made a face. “Anywhere else, though, yes, I would- I would like that.”

“Gotcha, no problem.” Tim propped himself on an elbow and reached for Jon with the other hand, pulling him close enough to kiss his cheek. He could  _ feel _ the heat creeping into the man’s face, and coaxing out even more of it proved a little addicting. He’d pressed quick, dry kisses into most of Jon’s face, listening to his breath catch a bit with each one, by the time the latter pulled back. “Good?” Tim checked, just to make sure.

“Perfect,” Jon assured him, and it didn’t even sound like flattery so much as a genuine answer. “…When do we need to be out of here?”

He’d be surprised if Jon hadn’t memorized that information five times over, but he answered anyway. “Our train leaves at ten, so nine, nine-fifteen? If we want time to find something to eat, anyway.”

“And what time is it now?”

“Um…” He squinted at the clock on the nightstand. “A little after eight.”

“Wonderful. Move over.” He stretched his legs out next to Tim and leaned over to kiss  _ him- _ first on the forehead, then at the corner of his jaw. “And would you mind taking off your shirt again? Er- for cuddling purposes, to be clear, not… anything else.”

“Right. Yeah, uh- yeah. Absolutely.” Damn it, Tim  _ was _ more coherent than this most of the time. It was clearly all Jon’s fault that he currently couldn’t put together a sentence without tripping over it.

“Thank you.” He waited while Tim fumbled with the buttons and then kissed him again, just under his left eye, before lying down with his head on Tim’s shoulder. “We don’t have nearly as much time as I’d  _ like _ to spend like this, I’m afraid, but it should be a good enough start.”

**Author's Note:**

> can you tell i ran out of time to come up with a real title and summary lol


End file.
